- Sappho (c. 630 – c. 570 B.C.E.) is known today as the earliest queer poet in history. Her life story is greatly lacking in reliable details because a Christian mob partially destroyed the Library of Alexandria in 391 B.C.E. Her works and accounts of her life were among the countless documents and records that were destroyed. From then on, her story has been akin to a broken mirror, fragments missing and unlikely to be whole again. Despite this, her work centering around intimacy and sapphic affections have proved universal in their appeal. Plato, famous for not even enjoying poetry, sings Sappho praise, with “Some say the Muses are nine: how careless! Look, there's Sappho too, from Lesbos, the tenth”.
In the modern era, we view Sappho as an indispensable part of queer history. The term sapphic comes directly from Sappho’s name. Spending most of her time on the island of Lesbos, this is also where the term lesbian originates. She has remained an important queer figure to this day, despite the mists of the unknown that shroud her life.
- March 30 marks National Doctors Day, a time to recognize the invaluable contributions of physicians. While the study of queerness by medical professionals may seem like a recent phenomenon, its roots delve much deeper into history. Magnus Hirschfeld, born May 14th 1868, was a Jewish gay physician who dedicated his life's work to understanding and advocating for the queer community.
In 1897, Dr. Hirschfeld co-founded the first ever LGBTQ+ rights group, the Scientific Humanitarian Committee in Berlin. He went on to open the world's first sexology institute in 1919, The Institute for Sexual Science, which also housed the Scientific Humanitarian Committee. Not only did the institute conduct research, but it also provided a safe haven for marginalized individuals seeking support and understanding.
Dr. Hirschfeld's vision extended beyond the realms of medicine; he preached empathy and equality between sexes and acceptance of people who experienced gender and sexuality differently than the norm. He worked to enshrine these principles through scientific study, but after the rise of the Nazi regime, the Institute was violently sacked by Nazi sympathizers in 1933. Later the same day, Nazi soldiers stole all the books and research which were destroyed at a book burning event four days later. Dr. Hirschfeld was on a world tour during the destruction of the Institute and later tried to continue his work in France, where he lived with his research (and life) partners Karl Giese and Li Shiu Tong. Unfortunately, Dr. Hirschfeld died before a new Institute could open.
Despite such attempts to silence, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld is known to this day as one of the most prolific intellectuals regarding the research and understanding of queerness, far ahead of his time.
- Gertrude “Ma” Rainey was a prolific black blues artist whose work centered around the intersection of her identity, being an openly Bisexual black woman. Born in 1886, she began performing Vaudeville as a teenager. After a brief marriage with “Pa” Rainey, where they formed a double act, she would go on to create her own singing act. She signed with Paramount Record in 1923, making her one of the oldest signed Blues musicians. Her songs tackled raw and real subject matter, like depression and betrayal, but what is so subversive about her work is the fact that the women she sings about never submit to men or conform to society at large. Her subjects are an exercise in freedom and autonomy in a place outside typical societal notions, and she is remembered for this even to this day. Her music styling synthesized vaudeville with Southern Blues, giving her the contemporary title of “The Mother of Blues”.
- Previously, we celebrated Magnus Hirschfeld’s legacy as one of the first Western scientific secular influences on queerness and sexuality studies. Today, we’ll share with you some underrepresented work done by his partner Li Shiu Tong, with whom he was in a committed polyamorous relationship.
Magnus and Li met at a Chinese feminist meeting in 1931, and would travel together around the world before returning to Berlin together. While Magnus attempted to name Li his intellectual heir and have him study under his tutelage at his sexology institute, by the time they could return after its destruction in 1933, Hitler had risen to power. The two were exiled to France and, until Magnus’ death in 1935, worked together on a memoir of their travels, denouncing imperialism and other such ideology. After Magnus’ passing, Li continued to pen manuscripts in sexology while studying around the world, particularly in Zurich, Hong Kong, and Vancouver. The data he gathered on human sexuality lead him to believe that 40% of people were bisexual, 20% homosexual, and 30% heterosexual. This contrasts with his mentor’s earlier assumptions that bisexuality was rare in and of itself, whereas Li found that human sexuality is far less rigid and structured than the current understanding. While Li never published his findings while he was alive, his work remains crucial to understanding human sexuality in a way divorced from preconceived societal notions.
- James Baldwin, born in Harlem in 1924, was a queer black novelist whose work centered around systemic inequality in America, specifically as it related to the Civil Rights movement and sexuality. The prolific author saw himself as a “disturber of the peace” - shedding light on the uncomfortable truths of systemic intersectional oppression marginalized communities face in America. Even outside his work as an essayist, author, and poet, he was also a playwright whose work had Broadway debuts. He passed away after battling cancer at the age of 63 in 1987.
To this day, his work is praised for being an honest, raw depiction of American life and the intersectionally oppressive systems within it.
- Stormé DeLarverie, born 1923 in New Orleans, was a prolific LGBTQ+ and civil rights activist, drag performer, and butch lesbian. She began a career performing as a singer before working as a bouncer for several lesbian bars in New York City. From there, she was known as the “guardian of the lesbians in The Village” in Greenwich, and was known for de-escalating conflict and protecting the vulnerable both in and out of work. Some accredit her with being the crux of the Stonewall uprising, as witness testimony stated a drag king was being arrested for violating a clothing law, and tensions escalated. However, she herself did not confirm nor deny these speculations.
The daughter of a wealthy white man and his African American servant, DeLarverie often faced harassment from other children. "The white kids were beating me up; the Black kids were. Everybody was jumping on me...for being a negro with a white face." Later in life, she organized and performed at benefits for battered women and children, saying "Somebody has to care. People say, 'Why do you still do that?' I said, 'It's very simple. If people didn't care about me when I was growing up, with my mother being black, raised in the south...I wouldn't be here".
- When discussing queer history, it is exceptionally important to acknowledge the contributions of our early queer leaders, who, in the United States, were primarily black trans women. One such individual was Marsha P. Johnson, who was pivotal to the historic Stonewall Uprising in 1969. Not only a gifted stage performer and trans rights activist, she formed Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries (STAR), an organization that provided support and assistance to homeless queer youth and sex workers in Manhattan.
This month, let's give thanks to our black queer community members and all members of color for their contributions to our collective history that are too often erased or ignored.
- Keith Haring was a queer contemporary artist whose work is remembered today for its unique style and how it was used to discuss social and political topics in the 1980s. Keith first began painting murals in New York, utilizing a unique and almost graffiti-esque style. He worked with chalk in the beginning of his career, splaying it on walls for the public to enjoy, promoting discussion around the topics he confronted in his art. Universally understandable and relatable, his work quickly rose to fame, where he utilized the attention to spread awareness of the crack epidemic in New York, the AIDS epidemic, and the apartheid of South Africa.
After being diagnosed as HIV positive in 1988, he used this to further embolden his activism, founding The Keith Haring Foundation that worked to spread awareness for AIDS at a time when the state was doing little. Perhaps his most recognizable painting was his last, “Unfinished Painting”, that he intentionally never finished. Initially, he sought to complete 100 canvases as his “final piece”. In this final series, he sought to explore the concepts of queerness, sickness, addiction, social stigma, and other intersecting ideas he thought pertinent.
He died shortly after completing three of these in 1990 at the age of 31. “Unfinished Painting”, pictured in the previous tab, is a heart wrenching piece that mimics the countless lives of, primarily but not exclusively queer, people that had been cut short by the crisis, as Haring himself would unfortunately be. It stands as a reminder to this day of the tragic fates people with AIDS suffered from not that long ago, and begs us to remember the beautiful and unique aspects of each person, despite how short their lives were.
Do you have a favorite queer person or ally in history that you'd like to see featured? Let us know!
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We acknowledge that Inland Oasis is located on the ancestral homelands of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) and Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene) tribes. We acknowledge that the region in which we live is named after the Palus (Palouse) tribe, who refused to cede their land and were wiped out by the US Government. We acknowledge the tribal history here, and work to respect their ancestors, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who make their home here today.
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